The program for the festival’s ninth edition, set for August 22 to 25, 2019, at Jacques-Cartier Pier in the Old Port of Montreal. Presented by TD Bank Group, the Festival Orientalys is again setting anchor at this pier, the scene of the greatest moments in its early years.
The Festival Orientalys is an invitation to become immersed in the multiple cultures of the Orient, said the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism. Its rich and varied program welcomes us on a voyage of discovery, appealing to all our senses. What a wonderful way to put Oriental cultures in the forefront and to contribute to the city’s culturaldiversity!
Festival Orientalys free outdoor performances
As in previous years, the Festival Orientalys has set itself the goal of offering the general public free outdoor performances that draw inspiration from an array of age-old Oriental cultures, with highly creative artistic crossovers. A range of original shows and creations specially devised for the festival, along with interactive projects, street entertainment and Oriental arts initiation workshops, as well as tastings, will be on the agenda for four days, promoting encounters and sharing among the various communities.
This year will mark the consolidation of the program’s international portion on the TD Stage, which will be hosting seven international shows. Each year, this ambitious platform confirms its leading importance to a keen and growing audience for wide-ranging shows of consistent quality. This ninth edition of Orientalys will also be marked by the inauguration of Place Orientalys, a third stage, in the very heart of the Medina. Its purpose is to provide a space for free artistic expression, improvisation and interaction between performers and audiences, a free stage forming the common space of an imaginary village inhabited by the curious, the exploration-minded and lively spirits eager for authentic immersive experiences.
FLORENCE, GRÂCE ET BEAUTÉ
(Quebec)
Thursday, August 22 | 6 p.m Thursday, August 22 | 9 p.m Saturday, August 24 I 2.30 p.m Saturday, August 24 I 6.45 p.m
Sublimated pain, the better to rise up, expressed through the codes of Oriental dance? Dancer and choreographer Florence Leclerc fleshes out this idea with her troupe of soul-stirring dancers and gives the lasciviousness of Oriental dance a whole new dimension.
HAMID OUCHENE (Quebec / Algeria)
Thursday, August 22 | 6.15 p.m
Plucked strings and Kabyle music with great virtuosity! Hamid Ouchene brandishes his mandola for you, never hesitating to sprinkle it with Latino and Oriental flavours!
ANA DANSE
(Quebec / Cuba) Thursday, August 22 I 7.15 p.m Sunday, August 25 I 1.15 p.m
Taste the voluptuousness of Oriental dance to the Afro-Cuban hues of the Ana Danse troupe!
DJ DANESHOU (Quebec / Iran)
Thursday, August 22 | 8 p.m
DJ Daneshou turns Orientalys nights into celebrations and gatherings where the hourglasses of time are suspended and vanish beneath the joyful dance steps of festival-goers.
SAHRIYA ZAFFÉ GROUPE (Quebec / Lebanon)
Thursday, August 22 I 9.15 p.m Sunday, August 25 I 4.45 p.m
With an outpouring of music, titan Pierre Moussa will convey the dancing euphoria of Middle Eastern percussions!
WU SEN (Quebec / Morocco)
Thursday, August 22 I 9.45 p.m
Under this DJ swinging electronic rythms, Jacques-Cartier Pier is transformed into a fiery scene!
SHAMS AL HABIB (Quebec / Egypt)
Friday, August 23 I 3 p.m Sunday, August 25 I 12.30 p.m
Caring for the soul with the powers of the oud and of song? Don’t regard the musical ambition of Shams Al Habib as being so esoteric. Her penetrating voice will make the St. Lawrence River the bed from which are born the melodies where your heart seeks to lunge!
VALESKA DANSE
(Quebec / Afghanistan)
Friday, August 23 I 3.45 p.m
Sunday, August 25 I 12 p.m
The fabulous Valeska returns to Orientalys to portray enchanting Afghan dance with gracious movements, embellished with colourful fabrics!
DANSE KHON BENJAMIN TARDIF (Quebec / Thailand) Friday, August 23 I 4.15 p.m
Saturday, August 24 I 1.15 p.m
Colourful masks and costumes are set in motion with theatrical Thai choreography!
ZALGHOUTA!
(Quebec / Lebanon) Friday, August 23 I 6.15 p.m
Celebrate the union of a Lebanese couple and join the zaffe, a joyful procession of dancers and musicians!
TAFSUT
(Quebec / Algeria) Friday, August 23 I 6.45 p.m Friday, August 23 I 9.45 p.m
To the clamour of ululation, dancers with brightly coloured Kabyle robes, adorned with hand-made tiaras and necklaces, will help you discover the feminine vigour that lives in their ancestral culture!
MOROCCAN ZAFFA (Quebec / Marocco) Friday, August 23 I 7 p.m
Orientalys invites you to a Moroccan wedding ceremony! At the peak of her amaria, the bride will wander around Jacques-Cartier Pier to bring you into the heart of the festivities, to a musical background of Moroccan chaabi!
BASMATE ISSAWA (Quebec / Marocco) Friday, August 23 I 7.30 p.m
The exhilarating percussions of Basmate Issawa will make the Medina Stage the place where the spiritual trances of sacred Moroccan ceremonies give rise to the greatest of festivities!
GROUND LEVEL
(Quebec / Spain) Friday, August 23 I 8.45 p.m
Come and taste the ardour and sensuality of flamenco from the subdued vantage point of breathtaking mixtures! Choreographer Rae Bowhay electrifies this genre with his musicians, with a modern eclecticism that will long leave evocative memories!
ORIENTAL FEVERS (Quebec / Peru / Syria)
Friday, August 23 I 10 p.m
Let yourself be won over by the electro-Oriental sounds of DJ Élie and the bewitching dancing of Miryam!
VOVINAM VIETVODADO MONTREAL
(Quebec / Vietnam)
Saturday, August 24 I 12 p.m
Discover the spectacular acrobatic scissor footwork of this modern martial art, which aims for the “development of the true Man”.
SIMORK OR THE IRAN OF COLOURS (Quebec / Iran) Saturday, August 24 I 12.15 p.m Sunday, August 25 I 8.30 p.m In the heart of a colourful Persia, the traditional Iranian dance troupe Simork offers you an energy-filled show marked by finesse!
PAMANA NG LUZVIMIND (Quebec / Philippines)
Saturday, August 24 I 1.30 p.m
A one-way trip to the Pacific islands without leaving Montreal? Head over to the Medina Stage with the Philippine troupe Pamana NG LuzViMinda for a show reflecting an archipelago with scenery centred around a costume dance!
PHU’O’NG-CA (Quebec / Vietnam) Saturday, August 24 I 2 p.m
Experience a unique immersion in the deep roots of Vietnam’s ancestral culture with Phu’O’Ng-Ca! You’ll be amazed to discover foundations made of dance, martial arts and music!
AMANDEEP SINGH
(Quebec / India)
Saturday, August 24 I 2.45 p.m A whirlwind of Bhangra dance not to be missed!
RAJA BHATTACHARYA (Quebec / India)
Saturday, August 24 I 3 p.m
Did you say Hindustani? Raja Bhattacharya reveals the secrets of this learned Indian music aided only by his sarod, a string instrument that will send a throb through your heart and turn the Medina Stage into the royal Indian court with you, dear audience, as the most fulfilled of rajahs!
CHEB FAYCAL
(Quebec / Algeria) Saturday, August 24 I 5.15 p.m
A phenomenon of Montreal raï is what Cheb Fayçal has truly become! This Algerian singer sets off a real frenzy with an audience keen on celebrating and rejoicing. Come and experience the fever of raï as never before at this show that will leave the most melodious of exaltations overflowing in you!
HAMAZAKAYIN ANI ARMENIAN DANCE
Under the artistic direction of Jo Avakian
(Quebec / Armenia)
Saturday, August 24 I 6.15 p.m
Hamazkayin Ani Dance! Even if the name means nothing to you, the show this Armenian dance troupe will be giving will leave you speechless! With costumes and accessories in hand, the ensemble will immerse you, without letting up, in a colourful, age-old Armenia, enlivened by unforgettable myths!
IMPULSO FLAMENCO (Quebec)
Saturday, August 24 I 7.30 p.m
The indispensable Delphine Manta and her musicians from Impulso Flamenco lead us into a spirited hybrid flamenco show with intense colours and beats!
ALL-OUT PANDEMONIUM
(DJ Sam, DJ Elie, Myriam, Ana Danse and Sahriya Zaffe Groupe)
(Quebec / Peru / Lebanon / Cuba / Syria)
Saturday, August 24 | 7:30 p.m.
An evening specially devised for lovers of partying, with numerous musicians, dancing and amazing guests for an outburst of talent, with electronic sounds, lascivious swaying and fiery beats!
SYRIAN TRIO
(Quebec / Syria)
Sunday, August 25 I 2.15 p.m
In this superb show, derbouka, oud and qanun dialogue in the hands of young musicians in the noblest and melodious forms of music from Syria.
BASHIR FARAMARZI (Quebec / Iran)
Sunday, August 25 I 4 p.m
Metallic sounds will envelop you like shimmering swirls of smoke from an exhilarating dream. Bashir Faramarzi knows the secrets of the santour better than anyone, and he intends to let you discover the irresistible charms of this table zither
SIRUS KHAMAZI
(Quebec / Iran)
Sunday, August 25 I 7.45 p.m
The divine strings of the tar combined with the percussive force of the tonbak for ancient mystical sounds!
BELLYSIMAS: JOSEPH KHOURY & MIRYAM
(Quebec / Lebanon / Peru)
Sunday, August 25 I 7.45 p.m
The elegance of Middle Eastern dance as embodied by Miryam to the unrelenting tempo of extraordinary percussionist Joseph Khoury!
DJ SAM
(Quebec / Iran)
Sunday, August 25 I 9.30 p.m
With DJ Sam, the evenings become electrified and give you no respite! His Persian beats will turn nights at the Old Port into moments of pure rejoicing!
For more information please see their websitehttp://www.festivalorientalys.com
